- published: 01 Dec 2015
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The word amen ( /ˌɑːˈmɛn/ or /ˌeɪˈmɛn/; Hebrew: אָמֵן, Modern amen Tiberian ʾāmēn; Greek: ἀμήν; Arabic: آمين, ʾāmīn ; "So be it; truly") is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Its use in Judaism dates back to its earliest texts. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. In Islam, it is the standard ending to Dua (supplication) and the "Opening" chapter of the Qur'an. Common English translations of the word amen include "verily" and "truly". It can also be used colloquially to express strong agreement, as in, for instance, amen to that.
In English, the word amen has two primary pronunciations, ah-men (/ɑːˈmɛn/) or ay-men (/eɪˈmɛn/), with minor additional variation in emphasis (the two syllables may be equally stressed instead of placing primary stress on the second). The Oxford English Dictionary gives "eɪ'mεn, often ɑː'mɛn".
The ah-men pronunciation is used in performances of classical music, in churches with more formalized rituals and liturgy and in liberal to mainline Protestant denominations, as well as almost every Jewish congregation, in line with modern Hebrew pronunciation. The ay-men pronunciation, a product of the Great Vowel Shift dating to the 15th century, is associated with Irish Protestantism and conservative Evangelical denominations generally, and is the pronunciation typically used in gospel music. Fowler, in his Modern English Usage (2nd ed., s.v. 'amen'), quotes from Essays and Studies (1960), "Ahmen is probably a comparatively modern Anglican invention of about a hundred years' standing. Roman Catholics, one is glad to note, on the whole retain the English āmen."